Aerodynamics
by VilyaSage
Summary: [Tales of the Abyss] Noelle could feel a familiar frustration with her older brother creeping up on her. At the moment, she didn’t care. This time, she felt justified.


_Spoilers here up to landing at Eldrant._

Because these two are never heard from again after that scene, really, and they deserve better! It was fun to write, and I hope it's just as fun to read.

(This is for you, LysPeony! Here, there be pilots!)

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**Aerodynamics**

Ginji was silent, leaning heavily on his sister as the pair shuffled toward the Albiore II. Noelle responded in kind, offering her brother all the support he needed without saying anything. They moved slowly, crossing the distance between the two airships with halting steps. By the time they reached the stairs leading into the Albiore II, Ginji's head was spinning.

"Do you need to rest a little?" Noelle asked quietly. "You can just sit on the bottom step."

Taking a long breath, Ginji offered her a weak smile. "I'll be all right, as long as we take the stairs slowly." His legs felt like dead weights, and he had trouble thinking straight, but it would be a cold day in Chesedonia before he would say such things to his sister.

"If you're sure," she said, uncertainty causing her voice to waver. Ginji nodded, and they ascended the stairs together, one step at a time. Noelle kept a firm hold on her brother, noting with a small frown his shaky walk, and how he needed to take longer and longer pauses as they climbed.

Halting briefly at the top of the stairs to let him catch his breath, she glanced back over her shoulder toward the entrance to the structure of Eldrant. Luke and the others had run inside only minutes ago. She could only guess at what might be going on in there. The very _idea_ of someone recreating an entire island was already overwhelming; the fact that she was practically standing on it, had flown the Albiore nearly _into_ it, seemed inconceivable. All the same, there she was.

Ginji took another step forward. Noelle shook herself from her thoughts, bringing her focus back to the situation at hand. She led her brother to the cockpit and helped him sink into the nearest seat. He sighed in obvious relief, letting his head drop into his open hands. Not knowing what else she could do, Noelle put one hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Thanks," he whispered, lifting his head again to lean it against the back of the seat. He caught sight of the look on his sister's face and gave a short, soft laugh. "Please don't look so concerned."

"Why not?" Noelle could feel a familiar frustration with her older brother creeping up on her. At the moment, she didn't care. This time, she felt justified in her anger. "You agree to something crazy like flying Asch up to Eldrant, dodge through more anti-aircraft fire than any sane human being can even consider, _crash_ the Albiore into the system, stagger out of the wreckage barely able to stand, and I'm _not supposed to worry_?"

"It wasn't my crash that was the problem," he explained, his eyes closing as he recalled what had happened. "That was jarring, but as safe as I could possibly make it."

"Ginji, a 'crash' is unsafe by definition," she argued coldly.

"I know. I didn't have a choice." He grinned at her; she met it with a scowl. "How else were you going to be assured a good landing?"

Noelle whirled on him, shocked and growing angrier by the second. "Don't you assume—oh!" It was an instant shift back to concern as she crouched on Ginji's other side. "You're bleeding!"

"I am?" he asked distantly, following his sister's worried gaze. Sure enough, there was a slash through the right sleeve of his coat, just above his elbow. A dark stain was spreading there, and apparently had been for some time. "Oh," he breathed, flinching. "I hadn't even noticed until now."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her fool of a brother, Noelle moved to the front of the cockpit. She felt around the floor near her pilot's chair until her hands found the first-aid kit. Carrying one had been Aston's advice, and after a year and a half of ferrying Luke and his companions all over Auldrant, she could confirm that it was advice well taken.

Returning to Ginji, she found him struggling to get out of his jacket. It was almost comical, and she was such a jumble of frustration and worry that she nearly laughed, but she managed to constrain herself to silently helping him out of the blue coat.

"Thanks," he said again, wincing when he saw the slash on the back of his arm. "How did this happen?"

"You crashed into Eldrant," Noelle reminded him patiently, tossing the coat onto one of the other seats. She opened the first-aid kit and began to pick through it quickly, not seeing Ginji emphatically shaking his head.

"I'm telling you, us hitting Eldrant wasn't the problem," he argued. His eyes wandered to the front window panels as Noelle got to work; he could remember helping Aston and Tamara measure the specially reinforced glass to size.

"Oh?" she asked, her voice laced with both sweetness and sarcasm. "Then what was?"

"It was _Eldrant_ crashing into the rest of _Auldrant_." He drew in a sudden, sharp breath when she touched his arm.

"Sorry," Noelle muttered, frowning.

Ginji shook his head slowly. "It's okay." He let out his breath, feeling the energy drain out of him with the air. His eyes started to slide shut.

"You were saying?" He blinked them open again at his sister's question. After a moment, he realized what she meant.

"Oh, right. I wasn't expecting the entire…um, island…to suddenly shift like that, let alone to head straight for the ground. I was unprepared." He laughed harshly at the memory, shaking his head. "I imagine I'll have quite a few bad bruises by tomorrow." Behind him, Noelle made a noise. Ginji frowned. Was she _giggling_? "What?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just," she continued, recognizing a silence of unbelief when she heard one, "it's funny to think that Van – if Van's the one who was flying this thing – has the same kind of piloting skills as you, dear brother."

Ginji found himself laughing, too, ignoring for the moment his sister's jab at his flying ability. He stared back out the window again; around them, the world was growing dark as the sun set. "I can only imagine what I've done to the Albiore."

"What?" Had Ginji been a bit more coherent, he might have realized that Noelle's voice was edged with shock, not confusion.

"The Albiore III. I don't even know if it's capable of flying out of here." He sighed slowly, closing his eyes again. His free hand came up to rub his forehead, careful of the sore area where it had collided with the back of a chair. "I guess it was pretty foolish of me to do that. After I wrecked the first one, too. …And it took some real work to get enough parts for the third one, I don't see _how_ we'll ever manage a fourth with any efficiency whatsoever—"

"Ginji." Noelle's hands stilled, the bandage she had been wrapping around his arm practically forgotten. This, he did notice, half-turning around to look at her curiously. She met his eyes with a steady gaze; Ginji noticed with surprise the _sadness_ that filled his sister's face.

"Wh-what is it, Noelle?" he asked quietly, just as soft and serious as she had been in stopping his wandering spoken thoughts.

"You don't understand, do you?" Her expression turned hard and cold, voice rising a few levels. "This isn't about the _Albiore_!" she went on when he raised both eyebrows, perplexed. "I couldn't care _less_ what happens to the Albiore III at this point."

"But—"

"Listen to me!" Noelle demanded, taking a step and whirling around so she was directly in front of him. She bent down to meet him at eye level. Ginji blinked, at a loss for words; his sister's eyes were welling with tears.

"Noelle," he tried again, more gently. She shook her head, grabbing his shoulders tightly and shaking him a little to make her point.

"Brother, we live in _Sheridan_. We can _always_ build another Albiore." He could feel her fingers trembling where they gripped him; her grip slackened as her shoulders began to shake, too. "We can't build another _you_."

Noelle's eyes lowered until she was staring at the floor. Silent sobs caused her trembling now, and she squeezed her eyes shut against falling tears. All at once, she felt herself pulled forward into her brother's embrace.

"It's all right," he whispered, patting her back lightly as she fought not to cry into his shirt.

"I c-could have lost…m-my brother," she mumbled, her voice muffled by Ginji's shoulder. "When I s-saw the Albiore III here…and then you l-looked so beaten…" A sob escaped, just one, loud but constrained by her brother's grasp. "And after…after Grandpa…I…" Her arms tightened around him. Somehow he managed not to gasp at the twinge in his ribs.

"Noelle, I'm okay," he said reassuringly, holding on tighter with his good arm. "Just banged up a little. I promise." He felt her nod a few times, and she slowly got herself under control again. After a minute or two she pulled away, silently returning to finish bandaging his arm.

Eyes closing again, Ginji leaned his head back against the seat. Soft footsteps crossed the cockpit as Noelle returned her first-aid kit to its proper place and came back to stand beside him. He forced his eyes open, smiling wearily. She smiled back.

"There are a few places where you can lie down and rest," she offered, holding out her hand to assist him in getting up. "They'd be better than one of these chairs." Her smile twisted upward a bit further into a smirk. "That is, as long as there's nothing else of yours that I have to try to fix."

Taking her hand, Ginji pulled himself to his feet. They left the cockpit and headed down the narrow hall, he so stiff and drained of energy that he still needed to lean heavily against her. She didn't mind.

Noelle opened a door and helped her brother into the small room beyond. It was furnished with a couch of sorts, a small table, and a chair. Leading him to the couch, she let him lie down as she went to get a blanket from the supply compartment. When she returned with it, he appeared to be asleep; his eyes fluttered open again as she spread the blanket over him.

"When…" Noelle glanced in the direction of the entrance to Eldrant, uncertainty flickering across her face. "_When_ Tear and Natalia get back," she tried again, placing her emphasis to reassure herself as much as her brother, "I'm sure they'll be able to help you a lot more than I could."

"You helped," he insisted tiredly.

Noelle smiled, sitting on the arm of the couch. "Thanks." She absently brushed stray pieces of her brother's wild hair off of his forehead.

He was silent for several minutes, and she, thinking him asleep, was drifting off herself and nearly fell off in surprise when he spoke to her.

"I…I've really been a fool, haven't I?" he asked in a whisper. Peeking at him, she saw his eyes were shut.

"What in the world are you talking about?" she asked playfully.

"I was…so reckless…after that crash back home, and…I was lucky to survive…and to try something like this…" Ginji gave a long sigh. "I'm a real idiot."

"Don't worry about it," his sister assured him. "If you hadn't done that, neither of us might be here."

"You don't know that."

"And neither do you." Even half-asleep, both of them were capable of being quite stubborn. "You can't change it, so don't even bother thinking about it. Just sleep."

Noelle waited patiently in silence for a while. When she looked at her brother again, his breathing had slowed to the rhythm of deep slumber. Smiling, she gave the blanket one final tug and leaned back against the wall, beginning to doze off herself.

"Besides," she whispered before her countless hours of practicing the ability to sleep anywhere and everywhere kicked in, "I _like_ you as a fool."

* * *

Well? Our two favorite pilots sure are awesome, aren't they? 


End file.
